The Flood Day 4

It is always a happy day for me when I get to talk about Jesus. If you do these lessons with me you'll find that every time the lesson focuses on Jesus I can't help but say I'm excited. What can I say I love Jesus and I love seeing Him all over the Old Testament. Luke 24:27 is one (of many) of my favorite verses. "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." On the 7 mile walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus Jesus appeared to 2 of His disciples (there were many more then the 12) who were brokenhearted and confused. They had seen Jesus crucified and heard the story of the empty tomb but they didn't understand what it all meant and they didn't recognize Jesus as He walked with them. So Jesus started telling them a story, a Love Story. Starting with Genesis (the 1st of Moses' 5 books) and ending in Malachi (the last book of the Prophets) Jesus showed the 2 men that it was all about Him.
Oh to have been on that road and hear Jesus reveal Himself through the Old Testament! I'm not sure I could bear to hear Him recite the words of Isaiah 53, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (53:5) I can't help but wonder if His nail scarred hands reached out to one of His disciples as He spoke the words. Or if the disciples noticed a certain twinkle in His eye when Jesus spoke the words of Zechariah 14, proclaiming a yet future time when he will return in triumph, "The LORD will be king over the whole earth [and] there will be one LORD, and his name the only name." (14:9)
I wonder how much time he devoted to Noah and the Flood? Seven miles would probably only take about 2 hours, so maybe He just hit the highlights, but I have no doubt that by the time the 2 men got to Emmaus they were awed at what they had been taught. No wonder they begged Him to stay with them a little longer.
Jesus is all over the Flood account. Some things point to Him very obviously, others require a bit of study, some are just hints or common themes. As much as the Flood is about a Holy God judging a sinful world, it is equally (or maybe more so) about a Merciful God providing Salvation to the faithful. Nothing screams Jesus louder then that.
God told Noah, "Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." Genesis 6:14
The ark was made of wood, which is pretty much common sence yet hroughout the Old Testament wood is symbolic of humanity. The Hebrew word for ark is tebah, which actually implies more of a box then a boat. Some scholars believe that the word is derived from the Egyptian word for sarcophagus.* Though it was gigantic is size, the shape of the ark definitely resembled a coffin. The means of Noah's salvation was symbolically through the death of a man, Jesus.
"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death- even death on the cross." Philippians 2:5-8
"Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:3 & 4
The ark was covered inside and out with pitch, a tar like substance that was probably common for waterproofing, however usually only applied to the outside of a boat. Whats interesting is that the Author used the Hebrew word, koper (which means pitch), instead of zepet (which also means pitch).** When Hebrew is written the vowels are left out, so koper in Genesis 6:14 would read, kpr. To the Hebrew reader this was a play on words. You see the word for atonement is kapar and would be written kpr also. The distinction would be the context. Since kapar (atonement) meant to cover over (most often in reference to the covering over of sin with the blood of sacrifice) it was actually interchangeable with koper. The implication is that it was more then a tar like substance that covered the ark and kept Noah and his family safe. The pitch represented the blood of Atonement that would cover the sins of humanity and provide salvation. When Jesus yelled at the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23-36, He called them "whitewashed tombs" and chastised them for appearing righteous on the outside, while on the inside they were sinful and dead. They needed their hearts covered with the atoning blood of Salvation. The atonement of Jesus begins on the inside and works it's way out into our lives making us new creations. That is why the ark was covered inside and out.
The ark had only one door. Jesus is the door to salvation. In John 14, Jesus told His disciples that He was going back to the Father to prepare a place for them. They were concerned that they wouldn't know the way to follow Him, so He told them that He was the way.
"I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (14:6)
There was also only one ark, and God had made the blueprints. No raft made by human design would be able to provide salvation through the raging waters. No religion apart from Salvatin provided by God through Jesus Christ can save anyone from God's judgment.
Throughout the Bible water is symbolic of cleansing. God's judgment came in the form of torrents of rain and springs bursting out of the ground. The water washed away all the wickedness that had corrupted the earth. The planet was literally baptized. In a way Noah and his family died to the old world and were reborn to a new creation, through the waters of baptisim.
"...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 20-21
Sometimes in Scripture it's the details the Holy Spirit leaves out that creates the parallel. The Bible is clear that Noah was found righteous in the eyes of the LORD, but no where does it mention that his wife, sons or their wives were righteous as well. My opinion is that it would be a safe assumption. Each of the fathers and sons of Genesis 5 passed their faith down to the next generation. It makes sense that Noah, a preacher of righteousness would preach to his sons, if they didn't believe that God was going to bring judgment I doubt Noah could force them onto the ark (but this is just my opinion). The Bible, however only says that Noah's whole family got on along with all the animals. Because the Bible omits the families righteousness but highlights Noah's it's possible that the Holy Spirit was drawing a parallel between Noah and Jesus. The Bible draws the picture that through Noah's righteousness his family was saved, just as through Christ's righteousness we are saved.
"For just as through the disobedience of one man [Adam] the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous." Romans 6:19
The last parallel we are going to look at today is in Genesis 7:1. The King James Version reads, "And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Many scholars believe that using Come in the KJV is a more correct translation than the word Go in the NIV. I do not read Hebrew so I rely completely on Hebrew- English dictionaries and lexical aids for my definitions, and I honestly cannot find a definitive answer as to which is better. However the if the KJV is correct, it creates another beautiful parallel.
God doesn't command us into His presence He invites us. Often in the Old Testament (specifically the Prophets) God is shown as a husband or lover, wooing His beloved, drawing her to Himself. If God indeed said to Noah, to come into the ark, it would be consistent with His invitation to us. Jesus said to the wear and burdened, "Come to me and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). To the hungry He said, "Come to me and never be hungry again" (John 6:35). God invites us to come to where He is.
I don't know if on the 7 mile walk to Emmaus, Jesus took the time to point out every detail of the Scriptures that hinted at Him or if He focused on the major points. I'd like to think that once He started talking that the pace slowed way down. Maybe the 2 hour trip took all day, as they listened more then they walked. When they got to Emmaus they begged Jesus (whom they still did not recognize) to come and eat with them. At the table Jesus broke the bread and gave thanks, and suddenly they saw that He was Jesus, and He vanished from sight. I love what they say to each other after He disappeared.
"Were not our hearts, burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32.
May our hearts always burn as the Holy Spirit opens the Scripture to us.

* Williams, William C. They Spoke from God: A Survey of the Old Testament. Springfield, MO. Gospel Publishing House. 2003. pg. 127
** Goodrick, Edward W. & John R. Kohlenberger III. The Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, MI. Zondervan. 1999. pg. 1400 & 1426